Chasing a target of 176 on a slow turner and with dew coming down in copious amounts was expected to be easy for Chennai Super Kings in what was the 200th match for Dhoni as captain. The CSK skipper made a brave effort by hitting two sixes in the final over but in the end, fell short narrowly.
Chennai: A valiant blazing 32 not out off 17 balls by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni went in vain as Chennai Super Kings lost to Rajasthan Royals by three runs in a last-ball edge-of-the-seat thriller in the India Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Wednesday.
Chasing a target of 176 on a slow turner and with dew coming down in copious amounts was expected to be easy for Chennai Super Kings in what was the 200th match for Dhoni as captain. The CSK skipper made a brave effort by hitting two sixes in the final over but in the end, fell short narrowly.
But after recovering from the setback of losing Rituraj Gaikwad, their top scorer so far, for eight runs, but recovering to 78/1 thanks to Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane, CSK reached a stage with 40 needed off the last 12 deliveries, Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja pulled them to 21 off six and then seven off three deliveries. It boiled down to five runs off the final delivery faced by Dhoni when Sandeep Sharma, who had started the final over with two wides, bowled a good yorker to deny Dhoni the glory on his milestone day.
IPL Points Table After CSK vs RR- Match 17
IPL 2023 Points Table – Rajasthan Royals the Table Toppers. pic.twitter.com/HrdiTYBRM9
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 12, 2023
Rajasthan Royals attain their position at the top of the standings.
Shikhar Dhawan remain as the holder of the orange cap. The Punjab Kings southpaw has so far scored a total of 225 runs in 3 matches with an average of 225. Delhi Capital’s David Warner is in 2nd position with 209 runs in 4 matches. Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler occupies third position with 204 runs in 4 matches.
Rajasthan Royals’ Yuzvendra Chahal is leading the purple cap list for most wickets (10 in 4 matches). Lucknow Super Giants’ Mark Wood is in second position with 9 wickets in 3 matches. Gujarat Titans’ Rashid Khan occupies 3rd place with 8 wickets in 3 matches.
